


The Past, the Present, the Future

by ayemcantkillthisclockwork



Series: In Departing Day [1]
Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Elder Scrolls Online
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Moving On, Other, Post-Morrowind, Post-Tribunal, but this is mostly about my vestige and their children, the last four are mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-02-25 22:21:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18710842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ayemcantkillthisclockwork/pseuds/ayemcantkillthisclockwork
Summary: After the events of Tribunal, Zenther reminisces on the first hints of their future relationship with the Clockwork God and the future of their family when their son reveals the contents of a letter from Sotha Sil himself.





	The Past, the Present, the Future

**Author's Note:**

> I also a ko-fi you can donate too if you like: Ayem0745 and if that doesn't work just Ayem.

They’re not used to it. The crippling loneliness.

Staring out of their window stopped working after a few days. The jasmine tea their daughter made them had stopped soothing their mind and soul like they used to. It just reminded them of metal and oil and the scent of Summerset did nothing to mask the smell.

Their still-full cup sat beside them. The minute they had taken the energy to take a sip they had been thrown back into a memory from a time long before, and they reveled in the distraction.

They would regularly visit the god known as Sotha Sil in his Clockwork City. He was wise and although at first they couldn’t understand what he was saying, they quickly learned to understand, and their talks turned from one-sided to full conversations.

When they would leave, they would pat him on the knee in farewell, because they couldn’t reach his shoulder-the first time they tried they ended up climbing him like a tree and was walked in on by Luciana at the wrong time-parting with a quick ‘Good talk, Seht’ which he would reply with a head nod.

As the months passed, their visits to the Brass Fortress became regular and his isolation in the Throne Aligned were less fewer. Luciana noticed. Varuni noticed. But they didn’t.

They weren’t there all the time to see how less isolated he had became, and how open he was compared to years before, when he would shut himself in his Throne Aligned for months sometimes years at a time.

When he laughed out loud for the first time in a millennia, they noticed.

“Zenther.”

They turned their head to the door, taking in the sight of the tall silhouette at the door. For the first time in weeks, the once dull green eyes of the one who was once called the Vestige, lightened up. Then all too suddenly, they died.

The tall figure entering their room was not the Dunmeri God they were hoping to see. Instead, the face of their eldest child and only son, sporting his mother’s brown hair and father’s red eyes, was the one she saw.

Suddenly, she realized just how much he looked like him. Divayth was right; he did look like Seht before the Battle of Red Mountain. Of course she wasn’t around to see what Chimer Seht looked like, but he probably looked a lot like his son.

Thank Azura he and his sisters did not sound like him.

“Another letter from the Nerevarine and one from Eleneth. She should be arriving in Mournhold soon to pick up-” his breath caught in his throat.

The silence that filled the room was deafening. They could tell just from having their head turned away from him that he was waiting for any sign from them. Good or bad, he would take it.

When he received nothing, he coughed and continued. “Uncle Vehk has disappeared from the Temple; no one knows where ze is.”

A voice behind him replied before Zenther could; “Ze just disappeared?”

“Yes.” his irritated voice at the interruption made the corner of their lips twitch. “Is there something you need, Nall? Something that explains why you rudely talked over me?”

“You stopped taking, so I didn’t talk over you.” for a moment, or maybe she had always been like that, the youngest of the Sotha children channeled her older sister in her reply.

Then, like he never answered the question, she spoke again; “That’s ludicrous, Varen. Ze won’t just disappear. Aunt Ayem didn’t kill them.”

Varen coughed and glanced over at their parent, signalling to his youngest sister not to refer to their father’s murderer as 'aunt’. That time was over.

“You cannot blame Almalexia for ze’s death, Varen.” Zenther spoke. “You read the letter from the Nerevarine. She turned mad without the Heart of Lorkhan.”

“Shouldn’t have used it in the first place.” he muttered and they sighed. Yes, they shouldn’t.

He changed the subject quickly. “The children are hoping to visit soon. I’ve been trying to drag out your promise, but you do know how they never forget anything.”

“Even though Seryn’s only a year old?” Nall inquired.

He chuckled. “Even though Seryn’s only a year old.”

Then:

“I received a letter from Father also, a few days back, before Eleneth left.”

That caused their head to swivel. All at once, emotions hit them full force. Had the Nerevarine’s letter been wrong? Had Sotha Sil survived the attack?

Then all hope shattered.

Nall had taken the letter Varen had extended out, and was now looking it over. “It looks to be written years ago, before he kicked us out of the Clockwork City and turned into a metallic husk.”

“And what does it say?” Zenther asked, their voice barely a whisper. Both siblings glanced at each other, before Varen replied:

“He wants to apologize to us all, and has expressed gratitude for our-or your-letters to him. Expressed sincere regret over missing out on our lives. He knew he was going to die, most likely from Ayem, and that he kicked us out of Clockwork City out of fear for our safety. He did it twenty years earlier because he knew ten years later he would completely detach from the real world-”

“Didn’t know he meant it literally.” Nall muttered. Varen glared and continued.

“And then ten years after that, he knew he would be killed. He wants us-” he took a deep breath before he would finish. “Before he died, he created a mechanical Heart of Lorkhan to power the city when he passed. He wants Nall, Eleneth and I to rule over Clockwork City. He believes based on our skills, I would take his place as the city’s divine ruler as the eldest. Eleneth is best suited to become one of the Clockwork Apostles, maybe a Proctor or even Chancellor, now that Luciana and Varuni retired and are with us, and he wants Nall…” he sighed. Zenther turned from the window to look at them.

“He wants Nall to do what?” but Varen remained silent.

Their youngest replied instead. “He wants me to become the new Astronomer, take over from Amili Lloryn. He doesn’t want me to right away, wants me to think about it, and that the position is open if I do accept, but Amili said she will continue her work if I decline.”

“I…see.” they coughed. “That is your decision, and one you will make alone. Varen, if you accept; are you willing to move your entire family to the Brass Fortress?”

His silence did not concern them one bit, and finally they replied, slowly and cautiously. “With some changes here and there, yes. We have talked about it, and we have agreed.”

“So have I, and Eleneth too.” Nall said. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want too, Luciana and Varuni love it here, and you seem more-well, it would be best if you remained here, on Summerset, in Tamriel.”

“But we would visit!” Varen assured.

“Of course we would. Zenther’s too old to travel now, may break a hip.” Nall joked. Varen laughed as their parent through her a glare.

“Watch it, smart mouth.” they spat back, and for a moment everything was back to the way it was. Then a sharp cry of a baby filled the air.

“That’s Seryn, better get him before the wife leaves me when she returns with Kasia and Sohleh from the market.” Varen took the letter and went to fold it, before stopping suddenly. Before they could ask why, he placed it in front of them silently, because there was nothing to say. Zenther smiled and patted his hand.

Then he pulled away and with a nod from each child, they left them to their solitude.

“You can stop being so serious now.” they heard Varen whisper as they left.

“Oh thank Azura I thought I would be stuck like this forever! Did you like my quip about Zenther breaking a hip? Funny, huh?”

And she was back to being peppy, the way she had always been.

Zenther smiled; maybe they would be all right after all.


End file.
